NewsCred gets new $15M investment, adds New York Times as a partner

NewsCred has become a quiet force in media by offering brands and publishers an easy way to acquire high quality news content from brands like Bloomberg and Economist. In a further sign of its growing influence, the company on Tuesday announced a major investment that will help drive its global ambitions.

The investment will see NewsCred receive $15 million in Series B funding led by Mayfield Fund, a prominent west coast venture capital firm. The company also revealed on Tuesday that the New York Times, which it has long courted, has signed on as one of its more than 2500 syndication partners.

For anyone unfamiliar, NewsCred uses technology to place a stream of relevant, licensed news content onto the websites of clients like the New York Daily News and Pepsi. NewsCred shares the revenue with its publishing partners.

CEO Shafqat Islam said in a phone interview that the new investment will allow NewsCred to grow its salesforce and expand its presence in non-English speaking markets. The plans follow NewsCred’s recent acquisition of cloud publisher DayLife and its decision to create a human editorial team to complement its algorithm-driven news service.

“Our ambitions are global,” he said. “Our ultimate ambition is to license and curate the world’s top publications.”

Islam said that licensing to brand clients, which also include Toyota and GE, now make up 50% of NewsCred’s business but that publishers remain the company’s core focus.

In an email statement, a New York Times spokesperson said, “We have our own very successful syndication business, which we are continuing to grow. This agreement with Newscred is one way we think we might be able to expand opportunities.”

The investors taking part in the new Series B round also include Greycroft Partners whose managing partner, Alan Patricof, is a fixture of the New York media scene. NewsCred has raised $5M in previous rounds of funding from FirstMark Capital, IA Ventures, Floodgate Fund, Lerer Ventures, AOL Ventures and others.